Figure: Expression of miR-126 and its target genes Dnmt1 and Vegfa in the DRG after nerve injury. a Relative expression of miR-126 determined by qPCR shows a reduction in miR-126 in SNI model compared to DRG from sham control. U6 was used for normalization (n = 8 sham, n = 7 SNI). b Relative expression of Dnmt1 mRNA and c Vegfa transcripts showed an increase in the DRG after nerve injury compared to control (n = 3). Gapdh was used as a normalizer. d Representative Western blot and quantification showed an increase of Dnmt1 protein in the DRG after nerve injury. e Western blot and quantification showed Vegfa protein was not significantly different in DRG after nerve injury (n = 3 from pooled samples, three DRG were pooled for each sample).

Conclusions: The study shows a regulatory role for MeCP2 in that changes in global redistribution can result in direct and indirect modulation of gene expression in the DRG. Alterations in genome-wide binding of MeCP2 therefore provide a molecular basis for a better understanding of epigenetic regulation-induced molecular changes underlying nerve injury.